John Lewis Partnership plc annual report and accounts 2013

Customers, product s and suppliers

We are committed to selling responsibly sourced products, dealing fairly with suppliers, engaging with and acting in the interests of our customers and providing excellent value and unrivalled customer service.

We build long-term relationships with our farmers and suppliers, which helps our customers get the best possible products to help them to live more healthily

In 2012/13:

• In Waitrose we achieved our target of sourcing 100% RSPO Certified palm oil and palm kernel oil based ingredients and derivatives in own brand products;

• The inaugural Waitrose way Supplier Awards took place in April 2012 to acknowledge the hard work and improving environmental performance of our supply base;

The Waitrose

Foundation supports suppliers and their families in three African countries

• To enable customers to make an informed choice about the products they buy John Lewis introduced a sustainable product identifier to highlight products that will help our customers lead more sustainable lives and launched a ‘Made in UK’ identifier – a small union flag symbol – for products made in this country;

• Both John Lewis and Waitrose have continued to put the tools, processes and frameworks in place to engage and manage suppliers, ensuring compliance with our Responsible Sourcing Code of Practice, which sets out requirements on labour standards, worker welfare and the environment;

• The Partnership’s two supply chain foundations continued to support the communities where our products are sourced and made.

Waitrose won a ‘ Big Society’ award for its Community Matters scheme

Charitable and community investment Being a ‘force for good’ in the community has always been part of the Partnership’s vision and our Partners offer their time to support local, regional and national initiatives that help to build more vibrant, economically sustainable communities. We exceeded our target to contribute at least 1 per cent of pre-tax profits to charitable and community activities.

Community Performance Indicators 

2012 2013 % change last year

Total value of all charitable and community investment contributions*(£m) 11.6 10.9 6.7%

Community investment as a % of Profits before Partnership Bonus and tax (%)  2.8% 3.1% -7.7%

* Includes cash, in-kind, time and management costs as defined by the London Benchmarking Group model and also includes the donations for charitable purposes detailed on page 34.

Community programmes included:

• The Partnership donating over £11.6m in 2012/13 to a wide range of charities and community groups through Community Matters. Waitrose won a Big Society Award for the scheme and Community Matters was extended to all John Lewis stores;

• Community Rooms in many of our John Lewis stores and other locations make space available free of charge to local charities and community groups;

• The Partnership-wide payroll giving scheme which is well established enabling Partners to make tax-free charitable donations directly from their pay;

• Volunteering enables our Partners to get involved in our community activities and reinforces our commitment not just to our communities, but to our Partners as well. The Golden Jubilee Trust is the Partnership’s flagship employee volunteering scheme where any Partner can apply for a full- or part-time volunteering secondment with a UK registered charity for up to six months. In 2012/13, this scheme saw 17,494 hours awarded to 55 Partners for 54 UK charities; and

• John Lewis shop Partners donating approximately 20,000 hours to volunteering in their local communities.

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